Firstly anyone genuinely interested in GW2 will be playing it in the days before release after pre purchasing, secondly if a patch is a threat to a release of a game...well then that game wasn;t going to do very well anyway. But lets face it the patch wont have any effect on GW2 longevity or release, it might just impact slightly on how much time people who split between gw2/wow such as myself put in to GW2.

Well I think it'll have an impact on the initial sales of GW2, although maybe small.
People playing WoW who aren't dead set on buying GW2 but are bored now, could buy GW2 to give it a try and end up never coming back to WoW.
The release of patch 5.0.4 can give them something to do so that they don't try GW2 when it's released and just forget about it when MoP launches.

I think what's important for Blizzard is to occupy the media space so that people aren't aware of GW2.

This is astonishing the amount of people arguing over which game is better and blizzard 'sabotaging' GW2.

-Blizzard is a company. Companies that make as much money as blizzard, exist to make money. It's hardly 'backhanded' or 'evil' - It's a marketing strategy. The majority of their major patches have been very well thought out in terms of dates.
-GW2 is B2P. No subscriptions. WoW is P2P. Subscriptions. Thus - They can co-exist. *SHOCK HORROR*

I will not play GW2, I personally see no appeal. I've played WoW for over 7 years now and no plans to stop anytime soon. That does not mean i'm going to fanboi up blizzard.

I'm not biased, I strongly disagree with numerous things blizzard does, and usually pisses me off. I'm not going to justify everything they ever say and do.

My friends will all be playing GW2. It sounds like they think it's an amazing game from playing the betas. I'm almost certain it will succeed more than SW:ToR.

TL;DR - Blizzard is a company, companies make money. The games can co-exist.

I personally think it's a pretty stupid decision on Blizzard's behalf. They're basically giving everyone the chance to log into WoW and preview the new system while GW2's going through its birthing pains. I myself will almost certainly log in a couple days on the 28th to preview the new MoP changes while GW2's sorting out things server-side. It's basically a guarantee that there'll be insane server issues for the first couple days.

Why wouldn't Blizzard wait about 1-2 weeks so the sparkle of GW2's wearing off for people who don't like the style/archetype changes, yet could possibly grow to like them in the future? They'd come storming back to WoW when 5.0.4 hits.

Instead, as I said, we'll be able to log in on the 28th, give new talents a raid/bg or 3, think 'cool/awful' depending on how they affect us, then straight back into GW2 which will almost certainly solve their server issues within days, at the latest?

I personally think it's a pretty stupid decision on Blizzard's behalf. They're basically giving everyone the chance to log into WoW and preview the new system while GW2's going through its birthing pains. I myself will almost certainly log in a couple days on the 28th to preview the new MoP changes while GW2's sorting out things server-side. It's basically a guarantee that there'll be insane server issues for the first couple days.

Why wouldn't Blizzard wait about 1-2 weeks so the sparkle of GW2's wearing off for people who don't like the style/archetype changes, yet could possibly grow to like them in the future? They'd come storming back to WoW when 5.0.4 hits.

Instead, as I said, we'll be able to log in on the 28th, give new talents a raid/bg or 3, think 'cool/awful' depending on how they affect us, then straight back into GW2 which will almost certainly solve their server issues within days, at the latest?

Having played GW1 (from launch) and GW2 BWEs and stress tests, I'd like to point out: It'd be no more than hours, and likely not even that long.

Wow, I've lost my respect for Blizzard. Trying to sabotage GW2 with poor attempts, they're realesing Diablo 3 1.0.4 the last week of August (Around GW2 release date) And realesing WoW MoP pre-patch on the GW2 realese date. And then realesing MoP one month right after GW2 when they are usually realesing their expansions around December. Lmao, pathetic.

No, not pathetic. I never realized someone owned a day. Thinking that only one thing can be done per day is totally pathetic. Sabotaging GW2? nah...it'll sink itself...give it time.

Having played GW1 (from launch) and GW2 BWEs and stress tests, I'd like to point out: It'd be no more than hours, and likely not even that long.

Mm I did also, but I still don't think their current server infrastructure will be sufficient. Of course this is pure speculation but we'll see.

My point stands though - even hours is long enough for people to get their 'new wow patch fix' out of the way unless they REALLLLLY see something which captures their attention (gets harder and harder for many each expansion).

You know what would be equal parts hilarious and sad? If GW2's launch was less buggy/broken/problem-ridden than the launch of 5.0.4? Won't happen I'm sure but still, would be amusing.

I was actually expecting the pre-expansion patch to release on September 11th because Blizzard had stated in the MoP press tour that the event was going to be a two-week duration. Yes, things change, but nothing seemed to indicate that they had changed their minds since then.

I was actually expecting the pre-expansion patch to release on September 11th because Blizzard had stated in the MoP press tour that the event was going to be a two-week duration. Yes, things change, but nothing seemed to indicate that they had changed their minds since then.

Seriously, if games were religions you motherfuckers would all be segregating each other on the streets and making sure your kids only frequented faith-based schools of your particular sect.

WoW has problems and so does GW2 and the date is more than a coincidence, so what? Just play whatever the fuck you feel like playing, it's not like either game is going away any time soon. Plus, why do you care what other people will be doing or what they'll be playing?

I'll be playing GW2 on the 25th and then checking the changes in WoW on the 28th and I'll still do my weekly 8/8hc clear as well AND STILL playing GW2.. And no, nobody divided by zero.

The quote, or the information on this site attached to the press event, rather, said the patch, not the event, would be two weeks prior. Clearly, plans can change. And they did imply that timeframe was an estimate.